New Deer and Bear Hunting Regulations

The NY Department of Environmental Conservation has made some changes to Deer and Bear hunting regulations.  And the deer regulations may be a bit complicated to figure out in Upstate New York.

The changes to bear hunting expands to allow junior hunters to have a chance to bag one. The new regulation allows the taking of bears during the youth firearms hunt over the Columbus Day Weekend.  It had been deer only.

The deer hunting changes are a bit more complicated as they pertain to specific Wildlife Management Units (WMU) in New York. In Upstate New York, units 6F and 6J will prohibit the taking of antlerless deer during the early muzzleloader season. In WMU's 1C, 3M, 3S, 4J, 8A, 8C, 8F, 8G, 8H, 8N, 9A, and 9F it is now legal to take antlered and antlerless deer during the entire bow and muzzleloader season.

If your eyes are better than mine, the map below details the Wildlife Management Units throughout the state. The units are separated by specific roads and highways and it would be easy to think you're hunting in one unit when you're are actually in another.  There is an interactive mapper that can help determine your exact location. Here's the legal description of each WMU.

Read the entire DEC press release as it also adds some clarity to previous regulations.